Traditional and widely used protective packaging materials include various padding or filler materials that are useful as impact and/or thermal insulations. For instance, package bag lined with plastic bubble wraps or foamed inserts, used alone or in conjunction with foam “peanuts” and bubble wraps are used for shipping fragile objects. Also, mailers with an outer pouch and an inner inflated liner are available; however, they are bulky in size or special machinery is required to force and seal the air in the liner as described in U.S. 2011/019121.
Because large portions of the traditional protective packaging materials are made out of plastic, they do not biodegrade and thus, have a negative impact on the environment.
The present invention seeks to improve protective packaging, through the use of a coating composition that provides impact resistance, high strength, and light-weighting to renewable and/or recyclable substrates. The present invention provides more environmentally and economically sound protective packages for shipping fragile and/or perishable objects. The present invention also seeks to minimize dependence on special machinery with readily available appliances, e.g., ovens and microwaves.